Starting with the cover which features a sepia-toned image of wooden cases of empties next to the bottle washer, the book contains interior and exterior views of the brewery, labels, Straub family members and even recipes with Straub Beer!

"Images of America: Hagerstown Firefighting Through the Years" is the second book to Firefighting in Hagerstown (2004) written by Hagerstown Fire Captain Justin T. Mayhue. The attractive pictorial book covers firefighting in Hagerstown from the early 1800s to present day while offering over 200 vintage images.

Local to Hagerstown and the Williamsport area, author Mary H. Rubin has put together a fabulous collection/essay on the small Washington County town of Williamsport. With the aid of the Williamsport Town Museum and other local sources, Mary brings the past to the present.

"A city's character is often defined by its architecture, especially its public buildings, which reflect the values and taste of the community." So writes Katherine Rine-hart in her book, "Petaluma: A History in Architecture," which was recently released by Arcadia Publishing as part of its Images of America series.

THE OPPORTUNITY offered to De'Onne C. Scott was to produce a picture book on Stafford County's past. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? But consider that Stafford has more than 100 million years of history and Scott had just five months to prepare a text and collect more than 200 photographs.

Greensburg lawyer P. Louis DeRose also enjoys researching local history. His book, "Greensburg," published by Arcadia Publishing last year, did much to stir interest in local history, Hays said. "The book put Greensburg's history in everyone's mind," Hays said. "It's an easy read and so visual that it brings back memories and opens up conversations with older generations. It was good on so many levels."

High atop their wooden towers of power on the sand, they are recognizable by their killer abs as much as their red swimsuits. Los Angeles County's lifeguards watch over 55 million beachgoers, winter and summer, on 72 miles of coastline from Malibu to Catalina. They make more than 10,000 ocean rescues a year, pulling people out of the surf, downed airplanes and sinking boats, or away from blazing piers.

Christian Teja of Newton, Mass. and formerly of Woodstock, had his literary work, "Suffolk Downs -- Images of Sports" released in June. In "Suffolk Downs," Teja takes the reader through a pictorial history of one of America's most noted Thoroughbred and Massachusetts' first racetrack. Construction of the track took only 62 days and was completed at a cost of approximately $2 million.

New in Arcadia Publishing's ``Images of America'' series is Cleveland Police, a pictorial history of the city's peacekeepers. Although the photos go back to the 1870s, the force itself dates, according to the book, to July 22, 1796, when Moses Cleaveland accepted responsibility for law and order in the city he was founding.

The history of Blennerhassett Island is shown in pictures, thanks to a new book now for sale. The just-published paperback includes photographs that have never been published before.

Mt. Pleasant, SC - Sep. 2005- Straub Brewery by John E. Schlimm II illustrates the evolution of this Pennsylvania landmark business, which has spanned three centuries. From the days when Straub beer was delivered in wooden kegs by horse and buggy to the newest stainless steel kegs that are delivered via semitruck, Straub Brewery takes readers on an unprecedented and thirst-quenching tour of the operation. This pictorial history unearths the Straub family legacy, the brewing process, and the events that have secured the brewery's "eternal tap" on history.

"When I see an old image in my mind, it's typically black and white," said the 29-year-old Martino. "Even when I think of something from the 1970s, and although color photography was available, I think of black and white."

I've spent most of my 40 years living in two suburban Michigan cities, Livonia and Westland. Imagine my delight when I saw that the wonderful people at Arcadia Publishing have put out a book on both of my home towns. I would hazard to guess that most people are fairly unaware of their own town's history. Like me you may be fascinated to learn that the history is much more colorful than you ever dreamed. Take Livonia, for example. It's one of the largest cities in Michigan with a population of over 100,000 people. But I didn't know that Livonia was officially formed in 1835...two years before Michigan even became a state! And the name Livonia? It was derived from a former Eastern European nation of the same name.

Take a nostalgic trip through York history via a postcard collection book from York County writer Scott D. Butcher. "York" (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99) features 200 vintage black and white images of center city street scenes, parks, houses of worship, public buildings, hotels, fire stations, stores, theaters, market houses, mansions, the Codorus Creek and the venerable York Fair, America's oldest agricultural expo.

Since 1993, Arcadia Publishing has been putting out little books loaded with pictures and history. These books are a lot the same: sepia-toned covers, old photographs on every page, text that is more caption than chapter.

Mark Rockoff, M.D., resides in a white colonial homestead on Pleasant Street in Hingham formerly known as the Orchard House, built in 1808 by John Fearing. Isabel Hyams, who bought the home in the early 1900s, turned it into a camp for disadvantaged youths from the South End of Boston, treating them to such activities as trips to Nantasket Beach and picnics at Hingham Harbor.

Step back in time and celebrate history through more than 200 vintage images chronicling the life and soul of Yorba Linda.